“Thank you.”
“I’d never replace you, Robin. You know that.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m really tired. Please don’t be angry with me. A lot has happened tonight.”
“It’s impossible to be angry with you.”
She reached out to touch his cheek and hesitated.
Reaper cursed, grabbed her shirt, and pulled her in close. She let out a moan as he took possession of her lips in a searing kiss.
It was the first time they’d kissed in so long. At first, it felt awkward. This man had been part of her other life and now, he was there kissing her, loving her, and it was just a little too much, but she responded.
Her body … didn’t. There was something missing. She cupped his cheek and pulled away. This was Preacher’s house. Reaper, her feelings for him, it wasn’t … right. She didn’t know what was suddenly missing.
You’re no longer a captive, and he’s no longer in charge. You’re safe now, and you don’t have to make sacrifices to live or to be happy.
“Fuck, I’ve missed you.”
“I’m going to go say goodnight to my dad. You can sleep in Bishop’s old room or on the sofa. I don’t know where else you’d stay.”
“I’ll take the sofa. I’m not sleeping in that guy’s cum dump.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight. I’m just going to watch her, make sure she is settled.”
Robin nodded. She went to her room, changed into a pair of pajamas, and went in search of her father. She found him passed out in the chair. The bottle of water half-empty beside him.
She grabbed the blanket and threw it over him.
He opened his eyes.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I’m not going to sleep. Just relaxing.”
“I’m heading to bed.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing, Robin?”
“No, I don’t.”
“You need to start making a decision about this.”
“Dad, please.”
“No, Preacher and Reaper can pander to your needs, but I won’t. That little girl up there can’t be pulled between those two men.”
The tears she’d been holding in finally decided to fall. “I can’t do this. Not right now.”
“Then do it soon. Don’t string them along. You’re not the kind of woman to do it, so don’t start now.”
“Dad, do you even know me? Do you even know what I went through?”
“Right now, I really don’t care. All I know is Preacher nearly tore the club apart trying to find you and then he did exactly the same trying to find his rat of a son and that asshole upstairs. I don’t have time to care about what happened to you.”
“I’m your daughter.”
“And you know what it means to be part of the club.”
“Yeah, I know what it means. Isn’t that why Mom ended up being killed? She couldn’t handle being with you so she turned on you and the club?”
Bear laughed. “You know that anger you’re feeling right now, direct it at someone who gives a fuck. I get that you’ve had it hard, believe me, I do. But don’t for a second think your life isn’t expendable.”
“Wow, I get my memories back and all of a sudden, I’m nothing.”
“Oh, my daughter is something. I love her more than anything, but you see, my Robin, she never would’ve had a kid with the enemy. She’s better than that. Right now, all I see is the whore who fathered a bastard’s child.”
“Actually,” Reaper said, “you better be careful how you speak to my wife.”
Robin closed her eyes. “Wife?”
“Yeah. Bishop’s hatred of you and the entire club, it drove him to make one other decision. Bishop and Robin haven’t been married for some time now. So, I took care of that little deed. She and I are very much married. Also, I might want to warn you Robin didn’t have a choice. I know you’ve got a problem with me, but your daughter isn’t a whore. The only reason you’re still sitting there feeling all superior is because I know my wife wouldn’t like me to kill you, but don’t push me. There’s only so much I’m willing to have Robin put up with, and you, my friend, are holding on by a thin fucking thread. Bishop is the cause of all of this, not Robin. You keep those threats of yours to yourself, otherwise, you and I are going to have a serious problem.”
“I need some air,” Bear said.
She didn’t watch him leave. The moment she heard the door slam, she opened her eyes and Reaper was there.
“I guess you didn’t get to that little detail.”
She shook her head.
“I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter. I … I’ve got to go to bed.” She turned on her heel, about to leave the room.
“I can take you away from all this. You don’t have to set foot or be anywhere near Preacher and his club. They don’t deserve you. You certainly don’t need to listen to what they say to you. You’re not a whore, never have been.”
She turned toward him and waited.
“You’re better than this,” he said. “You’re better than all of this.”
“You never gave up your club or what you did, not even after I gave birth to Bethany. It’s why I ended up back here, broken, hurt, and tortured. Do you have any idea what those men … did to me?” She pressed her lips together and waited.
“Robin.”
She took a step back. “I don’t…” She stopped needing a minute, or ten. “I need to get some sleep. It’s been a really long day.”
Without looking back at him, she climbed the stairs and went straight to her bedroom rather than the one she’d been sharing with Preacher. It was now wrong to share a bed with him. If she climbed into his bed, would Reaper demand the same? It was confusing, and all she wanted to do was fall asleep. To be somewhere where her troubles didn’t exist. Where she didn’t have to make choices and decisions or remember what had once been.
After grabbing the spare pillow, she placed it over her face and sobbed.
Chapter Two
“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Dog said.
Preacher removed his leather cut and wrapped some bandages around his fists, flexing them. “Whoever you’ve got lined up tonight, change it. I’m going on.”
“Seriously? You’re going to come here and tell me how to work my men and my business?”
“Most of them have a death wish. It’s why they come here in the first place. Don’t give me all that bullshit about how they need the money and stuff.”
“Preacher, I hate to break it to you, but you and I have a working relationship. Your boys, they don’t like me.”
“I don’t give a fuck what it is they like or don’t like. I know what I want you to do. Now, organize for me to go on there.”
“And if you die?”
“It’s a decision I make.”
“This is fucked up.”
“Listen to me, Dog, I’m not asking for your permission. What I’m telling you right now is if I don’t go out there and hurt or kill, then I’m going home and murder the bastard who raped my woman and impregnated her with his kid, then kill my son who allowed it all to happen.”